Microsoft Milestone Review: Windows 10 Is Now Running On 500 Million Devices

Microsoft said on the first day of its Build 2017 developer conference in Seattle that more than half a billion devices are now powered by its latest software. The word devices here pertains to all gadgets that run the Windows 10 including PCs, consoles, tablets and smartphones. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the opportunity for them as developers to build "impact on all parts of society and all parts of the economy has never been greater."

Windows 10 is now running on more than 500 million "monthly active devices." This half-billion milestone is important to convince developers to make software and apps for the Universal Windows Platform and convert it to be sold in the Windows Store. This breakthrough comes nearly two years after the official release of Windows 10, which was offered for free to all version of Windows starting 2009.

Milestone Is Still Not Enough

According to ZDNet, even though 500 million is a very large number, it is also a slight disappointment to Microsoft Corporation. Back in 2015 at Microsoft's Build conference, Windows executive Terry Myerson set a daring goal for Windows 10. She announced that the OS would be installed on 1 billion devices within two to three years, that is until the late summer of 2018.

After a year and after Microsoft sold off its Nokia subsidiary, Myerson was forced to acknowledge that getting to a billion Windows 10 devices would take a much longer time than expected. Today's broadcasted milestone is the first announcement in more than seven months. As far as records are the concern, the biggest boost to Windows 10 adoption was the year-long free upgrade offer that launch in July 2015.

By comparison, Windows 10 was called "vastly improved," when released in 2015, according to CNET. The ticker climbed firmly throughout 2016, with 200 million at the beginning of the year and 350 million on June 29, just before the official release of its Anniversary Update. And before the end of September 2016, the number of Windows 10 devices had increased to 400 million.

Microsoft originally said that they are expecting a billion machines to be powered by Windows 10 by 2018. However, seeing the reported milestone now, it seems like Microsoft will miss the set deadline. One thing is clear, if Microsoft really wants to reach that goal, it'll need to figure out a plan to bring the operating system to even more devices.